


lift soil with bare hands

by porcelainsalt (bluedreaming), read by (bluedreaming)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Canon Related, Cinquain, Drarry Discord Writers Corner Drabble Challenge, Free Verse, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, POV First Person, POV Second Person, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Pre-Slash, Read by the Author, Traditions, tanka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedreaming/pseuds/porcelainsalt, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedreaming/pseuds/read%20by
Summary: Traditions are heavy, but it's possible to break loose.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: micro-fiction





	lift soil with bare hands

**Author's Note:**

> The title for this flashfic is from [LITANY ON BEGINNING A BURIAL](https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/poem/5716/auto/0/0/Menna-Elfyn/LITANY-ON-BEGINNING-A-BURIAL) by Menna Elfyn, translated by Joseph P. Clancy.
> 
> For this piece, the initial stanzas are in modified free verse, followed by sets of [tanka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanka) and finally, from Harry's point of view, a [cinquain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinquain) (thought the stresses aren't quite right).
> 
> You can find the podfic page with multiple formats on [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/lift-soil-with-bare-hands-written-and-read-by-bluedreaming).

Audio Streaming Player here

* * *

Tradition weighs a heavy load.  
The expectations of a role  
Define the choices one can make  
Despite the mirage of a chance  
To step outside the narrow path;  
Attempt to find a different way.

Tradition states that blood is key  
And nothing else can close compare;  
While dallying is not a crime  
It cannot matter, cannot last:  
These trivial loves must fade away  
When moving on to adult things.

Tradition binds the laws that keep  
The world in order; right and wrong  
And up and down and good and bad  
Are all dependant on routine.  
If anyone should disagree  
Then traitor-labelled quick become.

Tradition seeps from blood to bone  
It forms the sinews, knits warm flesh  
It sounds the heart and fills the chest  
It sings the breath and wrinkles skin.  
Without it, nothing could endure:  
The world would end in fiery ruin.

Tradition is the soul that holds  
Society in settled ways.  
Devotion to its many rules  
Both spoken and unspoken ones  
Distinguish those who understand  
From those who merely seek to gain.

Tradition: oh, temptation sweet  
Of change and chance and all things new  
Cannot defeat the stalwart spine  
Of history and measured thought.  
And even if temptation strikes  
A quick correction soon ensues.

* * *

But oh! You watch him  
From the corner of your eye  
And see him laughing.  
“Harry,” that girl, that Granger  
Says, rewarded by a smile.

You can only grit  
Your teeth and pretend not to  
Care, while secretly  
Longing to be friends, to share  
Secrets and confidences.

* * *

Do you remember,  
Harry, when I wanted to  
Shake your hand but you  
Turned away? I go back to  
Those moments full of regret.

I listen; Father  
Mocks the intelligence of  
Muggle-borns. Meanwhile,  
I think of Hermione  
Who’s so clever I concede.

* * *

At night, do you dream  
About rules and an arranged  
Marriage to someone  
You don’t even really know?  
No, you dream of Harry’s smile.

When the clouds begin  
Descending, everything gone  
To wrack and ruin  
It’s not tradition to which  
Your thoughts turn, seeking comfort.

* * *

Draco.  
There’s a lot of  
Rubbish that we have to  
move past and truths we have to share.  
But thanks.

**Author's Note:**

> Created for the [drarry discord](https://poxei.tumblr.com/post/633399975146094592) drawble challenge for December 2020. The prompt was _tradition_.
> 
> My [Blanket Statement](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5678194).


End file.
